Ross County co-manager Steven Ferguson has challenged winger Davis Keillor-Dunn to force his way back into the Staggies’ reckoning.
Englishman Keillor-Dunn spent the second half of last season on loan with Falkirk, having struggled to force his way into County’s side during the opening months of the campaign.
The 21-year-old made 11 appearances for the Bairns, netting three goals, but was unable to prevent Ray McKinnon’s men suffering relegation.
With 12 months still to run on his Dingwall contract, Keillor-Dunn will report back to Victoria Park next month for pre-season training and Ferguson has urged the Sunderland-born player, who qualifies for Scotland through a grandparent, to make the most of his chance.
Ferguson said: “Davis has still got another year left on his contract, so he will be returning with the rest of the players for pre-season.
“He obviously had a disappointing spell with Falkirk, with them going down, but he managed to play some game time, which was the reason he went out on loan.
“From that aspect it was good for him. Hopefully he will come back in a condition that gives us something to think about, and puts himself in the mix.”
County have already added Inverness midfielder Joe Chalmers to their squad, while Michael Gardyne and Declan McManus are among those to sign new contracts.
Ferguson hopes the squad will continue to take shape in the coming days, adding: “It’s a process we need to go through. It takes time; we want to move a lot quicker than it probably does move.
“Guys are coming back from their breaks; they like that switch off right after the season and then things start to come around again.
“Hopefully in the next seven days or so we will really know where we are. We have brought Joe Chalmers in, who we really feel will benefit our group. There will be more to follow, including a couple of goalkeepers.
“The crux of our group is there though. When we recruited last year, we recruited for guys that if we won the Championship, would be able to offer something in the Premiership.
“That has not changed from 12 months ago. We feel we have the right balance in the group, but we do want to add one or two more.
“Given how good the willingness of the group was to put everything into it together last year, it would be crazy to want to break that up. We will just look at little things to enhance what is already a really tight group.”
